The present invention relates to centrifuges, and more particularly to apparatus for adapting a centrifuge rotor for fixed angle centrifugation.
Centrifuge rotors employing carrier mounted sample tubes are well known in the art. A rotor of this kind is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,050,239 issued to Fred G. Williams and assigned to Beckman Instruments, Inc., the assignee of the present invention. The rotor described by Williams contains a plurality of elongated vertical slots in its outer periphery, each of which are adapted to receive a slide-in tube carrier. Each carrier holds a plurality of sample tubes and when the carrier is installed in the rotor, the tubes are oriented radially outward of the rotor spin axis. In other words, the tubes protrude beyond the exterior of the rotor in a fixed horizontal attitude.
A number of advantages are found in the Williams device. One of these is that the rotor can be made smaller than the radius at which centrifugation occurs, so that the rotor can be significantly smaller and lighter than a conventional rotor. As a result, the overall size and cost of the centrifuge tends to be minimized. The present invention retains the advantages of the Williams design, while at the same time providing a sample tube carrier adapted for fixed angle centrifugation; that is, centrifugation with the sample tube at an angle intermediate of the horizontal and vertical directions.